Gauff, Sabalenka into US Open final after climate protest

NEW YORK: American teenager Coco Gauff shrugged off disruption from climate protesters to reach the US Open final on Thursday as Aryna Sabalenka survived a huge scare to stay on course for a second Grand Slam title.

A night of nerve-shredding semifinal drama saw Gauff reach the final for the first time with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of the Czech Republic’s 10th seed Karolina Muchova.

The 19-year-old Gauff showed great poise to remain unfazed after the match was halted for 49 minutes early in the second set when environmental activists staged a protest in the upper tiers of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Play was held up as officials attempted to remove one of the protesters who had glued their bare feet to the concrete floor of the arena. The four protesters were later taken into police custody.

When play resumed, sixth seed Gauff closed out a hard-fought second set to advance to the second Grand Slam final of her career.

The American teenager said while the enforced stoppage had been “challenging,” she had sympathy for the activists and their cause.

“I definitely, I believe, you know, in climate change,” Gauff said. “I think there are things we can do better.

“I prefer it not to happen in my match but I wasn’t pissed at the protesters.

“Obviously I don’t want it to happen when I’m winning up 6-4, 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going. But hey, if that’s what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can’t really get upset at it.”

The protest was the latest high-profile sporting event to be targeted by environmental activists in recent years.

Other Grand Slam tennis events including Wimbledon and the French Open have also been disrupted by protesters.

Gauff, who is now the youngest American woman to